Chapter 34: Love and Peace (3)

“…”

Ianna squeezed her eyes shut and frowned slightly.

It was because she felt an intense headache, as if her head were being split in two.

A wave of stomach acid churned at the base of her throat.

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Ianna struggled to maintain her usual composure.

Naturally, this was due to the side effects of the excessively administered sedative.

Ianna’s limbs were trembling slightly.

Cold sweat, pouring down like rain, had already soaked her back completely.

Maintaining consciousness and appearing calm to others was the only thing she could do.

Ianna did not reveal the side effects of the drug on the surface.

In such an important situation, she couldn’t afford to cause trouble for those around her.

She didn’t want to show the disgrace of collapsing to the floor just because of a sedative.

And.

She couldn’t collapse yet.

Even though waves of gut-wrenching pain were beginning to surge through her, she still couldn’t lose consciousness.

Because of Byeolmuri.

Hojoon hadn’t yet given a definite answer regarding Byeolmuri’s treatment.

As long as she stayed conscious, Byeolmuri would likely remain safe, but if she blacked out, she had no idea what might happen to her.

Byeolmuri could even be killed by Hojoon’s hand.

Byeolmuri needed her.

While Ianna was gathering her wits solely for Byeolmuri’s sake—

Byeolmuri, sitting alone in a corner of the control room, dazedly thinking, was also focused only on Ianna.

‘…Why?’

It was clear that Ianna had been forced by Han Hojoon to sacrifice her fellow magical girls.

It was clear that she had been controlled.

And yet, how could she sit so serenely in the Director’s seat?

How could she cling so close to Hojoon, looking so calm as she watched the monitors?

‘…The sedative.’

It was because of the sedative.

That was why she could appear so composed even in front of the man who had manipulated her so terribly.

If not, her mind must still be under control.

Han Hojoon must have found a way to manipulate her cleverly.

The Ianna now was completely different from how she used to be.

It was as if the magical girl of Janwol had returned.

Byeolmuri began to revisit her relationship with Ianna.

She started reordering her perception of the situation with Ianna as the absolute good.

She was slipping into delusion.

Unfortunately, the possibility of sedative side effects wasn’t even within Byeolmuri’s imagination.

She didn’t know what the proper daily dosage of a sedative was.

She assumed that even though a lot had been administered, Ianna looked fine, so there must be no side effects.

What Byeolmuri hated even more than villains—

Were hypocrites.

She could never believe that Ianna would commit hypocrisy.

She was convinced it must simply be an unusual situation.

However.

The seed of doubt about Ianna was rapidly growing.

Fueled by Byeolmuri’s own repeated delusions.

“Hojoon, stay calm….”

“I am perfectly calm, Director.”

Ianna, with trembling hands, tugged at Hojoon’s suit sleeve.

Seeing her like this, Hojoon forced a smile, trying to reassure her.

Hojoon’s large, thick hand landed atop Ianna’s white head, softly stroking her hair.

He was acting like everything was normal.

Trying to tell her he was fine.

Of course, the veins in Hojoon’s neck were bulging.

He was carefully watching Ianna’s condition, aware of the excessive sedative dosage, but his main focus remained on the monitor in front of him.

[Screeeeee—]

On the monitor, a pale, slithering something was moving about frantically.

It was inside a pitch-black abandoned building, so its full shape couldn’t be clearly seen, but at the very least, it wasn’t humanoid.

It was slithering around like a snake.

“…Are you certain that thing is a magical girl?”

“That much is certain. The Etar particle reaction is unmistakably that of a magical girl. Formula Unit No.6 also confirmed it before falling in battle.”

“Identify its code at all costs.”

“Understood!”

Hojoon said no more and moved the hand stroking Ianna’s head to his chin.

It was a particular habit of his that emerged when he was tense.

‘…’

Magical girl rampages sometimes escalated into their worst possible form.

It was rare.

Most of them died before reaching that stage.

Whether they took their own lives—or sought help from Ianna herself.

Most chose the latter.

Of course, some tried to flee or fight back.

They all died.

Without exception.

When Gamma Ether accumulated excessively within the body, it began to deform.

It evolved.

At that stage, the self would completely vanish. The human form, too.

Gamma Ether was a dangerous energy whose origin was still unknown.

Even the bodies of strengthened magical girls couldn’t withstand its vast power.

It was similar to slowly accumulating radiation in one’s body.

The current state of magical girls was like having dangerous Gamma Ether stockpiled inside them.

As magical girls began to evolve, their appearance would change.

Flesh, muscles—everything would twist, morphing into the image they had always dreamed of.

Of course, it was never normal.

Everything twisted grotesquely.

Most ended up looking more like beasts than humans.

Even Ianna had only seen such forms twice in her entire life.

And she had been one of the few dispatched directly to the field.

Hojoon, of course, had no chance of ever witnessing it firsthand.

And.

Whenever Ianna encountered an evolved magical girl, she would destroy all records completely.

So that no one could ever find them.

It was too dangerous.

Because evolution wasn’t just about changing shape.

They obtained endless strength.

Gamma Ether output would soar beyond limits.

Evolved magical girls’ bodies had zero resistance to Gamma Ether.

Ten units of Ether meant ten units of raw power.

If, by any chance—

The magical girls, already drunk on madness and thirsting for endless power—

If they learned about the existence of “Evolved Forms”—

If they realized they could become one easily—

Uncontrollable disasters would unfold.

That’s why Ianna destroyed every piece of data related to evolved forms.

Back then, she could still personally take care of any rampaging magical girl.

‘…’

The magical girls dispatched to the field now would stand no chance against an evolved one.

The abandoned concrete building shown on the screen—

The entire place was part of the evolved creature’s domain.

The artificial girls had essentially walked into a trap.

It was extremely dangerous.

“Director! Here’s the identification code sent by Formula Unit No.14! It’s been confirmed as a magical girl!”

“Put it on the screen immediately.”

On one side of the screen, a complex code made up of English letters and numbers appeared.

[SLET004]

As soon as the code appeared, the agents frantically hammered away at their keyboards, beginning a search.

When an artificial girl went berserk, the priority was to identify “which model” she belonged to rather than trying to stop her.

Each artificial girl had a designation code apart from their general unit name.

Artificial girls were produced only once per quarter, and those created at the same time received similar identification codes.

Of course, their general nicknames—like Formula Unit No.14 or No.6—remained the same.

But their individual identification codes differed by quarter.

The code displayed, for instance, meant this girl was the fourth among those assigned the SLET code for her quarter.

Since artificial girls were made from the same specifications and parts in the same batch, if one went berserk, it usually meant others could too.

Their bodies simply couldn’t withstand Gamma Ether’s pressure.

Thus, the Bureau carefully monitored all artificial girls from the same batch.

If necessary, they would even “dispose of” them preemptively.

“D-Deputy Director….”

“Speak quickly.”

A pale-faced agent called Hojoon, and Hojoon rebuked him for hesitation.

“There’s no record of that code in the Bureau’s database. T-That… that means… she doesn’t belong to the Bureau…!”

“…”

For a brief moment, the control room fell into silence.

No one could open their mouth.

It was too shocking.

Depending on how one interpreted it, it could mean anything from conflict between executive agencies to terrorism—or even war.

Sending a magical girl into another agency’s territory without permission was basically an act of war.

All agencies were theoretically united under the “Magical Girl Executive Agency” name, but in reality, each pursued different goals.

Some agencies exploited magical girls for personal gain, while others, driven by religious zeal, worshiped them and fought against unknown entities.

The Bureau led by Hojoon was among the best of these organizations.

Regardless—

Without saying a word, Hojoon sat down right next to me.

The glasses Hojoon wore seemed fogged over, as if breathed upon on a winter day.

The red light reflected on his lenses, hiding his eyes completely.

But.

It was clear—

Hojoon was smiling.

He had found out.

Where that grotesquely rampaging magical girl had come from.

Without a doubt.